At this time, Brittney Griner‘s whereabouts in Russia are unknown. On Wednesday (November 9), her authorized staff revealed that officers began to switch Griner from a detention middle to a penal colony to serve her sentence.
According to the Associated Press, Brittney left the middle outdoors Moscow on November 4. Officials received’t launch her vacation spot tackle till Griner arrives there. Per the outlet, penal colonies are frequent kinds of prisons within the nation and resemble labor camps, the place “detainees work for minimal pay.”
Russian officers will notify Griner’s authorized staff and the U.S. Embassy of her location by official mail, per the New York Times. However, it may very well be as much as two weeks earlier than the primary discover lands. AP additionally studies that “access to Griner may be difficult” as soon as she arrives on the colony, given that the majority are situated in distant components of the nation.
Still, Brittney will not be the one individual to expertise Russia’s prolonged switch course of that includes restricted to no communication with the skin world. NYT says it’s a “longtime practice in the Soviet and Russian systems” that’s known as “staging.”
Penal Colony Move Expected After Appeal Loss In October
The switch is unsurprising, primarily after Brittney misplaced a conviction enchantment two weeks in the past. In August, a Russian courtroom discovered her responsible of tried drug smuggling and possession. The courtroom sentenced her to 9 years in a penal colony plus a superb of $16,300 or a million rubles.
The ruling got here after Russia detained Brittney for months after customs found two vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her baggage. Throughout the trial, Brittney maintained that she had no intentions of breaking Russia’s legal guidelines or endangering its inhabitants. Instead, she declared transporting the unlawful substances was “an honest mistake.”
Following the conviction, Griner’s authorized staff rapidly filed an enchantment. However, a courtroom shut it down in October. The choose solely granted Brittney time served, that means every of her pre-trial detention days will depend as 1.5 days off her sentence. Ultimately, Brittney may spend about eight years in a penal colony until the U.S. strikes a take care of Russia.
Here’s Where The White House Stands On Griner
Despite the obvious lack of motion, the White House has backed Griner from the beginning. In May, U.S. officers declared that Russia was wrongfully detaining the American basketball star. After her conviction in August, he launched a press release calling for the “immediate release” of Griner and one other American jail named Paul Whelan.
By October, the White House tripled down on requires Brittney’s launch and accused Russia of working a “sham political proceeding.”
“We are aware of the news out of Russia that Brittney Griner will continue to be wrongfully detained under intolerable circumstances after having to undergo another sham judicial proceeding today. President Biden has been very clear that Brittney should be released immediately,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan mentioned.”
In early October, Griner’s spouse, Cherelle Griner, mentioned that Brittney shared that she appears like her “life just doesn’t matter.” And days earlier than dropping her enchantment, Brittney’s lawyer Alexandr D. Boykov revealed that she was “afraid” of serving the whole sentence.
Cherelle Griner is within the combat of her life to deliver residence her spouse, Brittney Griner, who’s been sentenced to 9 years in jail.
She fears the worst: “I don’t know if she has anything left in her tank to continue to wake up every day and be in a place where she has no one.” pic.twitter.com/WR4fm5RRUt
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) October 6, 2022
This story is creating.